


Pawn

by FrankieQuinn13



Series: Leo-Overs [5]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), The Covenant (2006)
Genre: Character Death, Forced Bonding, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Magic-Users, Multi, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Obsessive Behavior, Possessive Behavior, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad Ending, Triggers, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 17:47:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10972287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankieQuinn13/pseuds/FrankieQuinn13
Summary: Sequel to Perfect.Five months three weeks and four days after Chase disappears things are slowly getting better for Leo; unfortunately he seemed to forget that things are always complicated whenever magic is involved. Five months three weeks and four days after Chase disappears, Caleb changes and Leo is forced to make a choice that could change things forever.





	Pawn

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, pay attention to the tags
> 
> Usual apologies
> 
> Disclaimer: See previous chapters

The house was burning.

“I want you so much.”

The words were breathed into his ear, a dark seductive purr dripped with lust that was somehow too mocking to be sincere.

Leo’s hands gripped the arm that held him, in some futile attempt at grounding himself so he could try and think of a way to get out of this mess only to shut his eyes tight and cringe hard, biting back the sob that was bubbling up in his throat as the warlock behind him licked a long strip all along his neck up to his ear before pulling him back against his chest with the arm he had wrapped around Leo’s neck. Heavy panting breaths fanned out against his cheek as the taller teen spoke and Leo wanted to do nothing more than break down and cry while his skin crawled.

“Hey, hey hey. Don’t do that,” the other said pressing a kiss on Leo’s neck before continuing, “Open your eyes baby, I want you to see this.”

Leo’s jaw clenched and he dropped his head trying to struggle free and get away and he actually managed to pull loose and take a step forward only for the other to yank him back hard against his chest, holding on tight as he growled against the shorter teen’s ear.

“No. I said, open your eyes.” When Leo failed to obey the other teen used his free hand to wrap around Leo’s neck squeezing while simultaneously tilting the boy’s head up and Leo started choking as his air supply was reduced, “Argh! Stop-“

“Open your eyes.”

Leo reluctantly opened his eyes and his air supply immediately increased but the grip around his neck didn’t ease up completely as Leo gasped for air, his eyes started to sting at the combined effort of breathing and the sight that waited for him once he fully took in the scene around him.

“That’s it,” the older teen breathing against his ear, “That’s good, Leo.”

Pogue was out cold, along with Tyler just a few feet away from the surrounding forest area both teens were bruised up and battered badly. But that didn’t really matter, even if they weren’t both unconscious, Leo seriously doubts that they’d be any help.

The house before them was up in a blaze of fire, with the windows breaking apart at the intense heat and the sounds of groaning wood filling the air as the floorboards in the house collapsed and fell apart. What really got Leo though was Reid.

The only one who wasn’t unconscious but Leo had a feeling that would change soon enough.

The blonde was on his hands and knees, panting hard in-between coughs and gasps as he tried to catch his breath before lifting his head to reveal bruised lips streaming with blood along with various cuts around his face. His clothes were torn and covered in soot in various places and his hair was a mess. Blue eyes met brown and Reid seemed to take a deep breath as he slowly struggled to get up on his feet, clutching his left arm which seemed to be wounded and bleeding heavily; the figure that held Leo captive laughed.

It was cruel and mocking and Leo felt hate rush through his veins along with the intense heat of magic as the teen spoke.

“If he was smart he’d just give in right now.” The older teen said idly as he leaned his head against Leo’s before he finished, “I’m stronger than him, stronger than the others. Always have been, but apparently tough guy over here is too stupid to get that.”

“He’s not stupid.” Leo hissed out as he tried to yank free but the other held him still, “No? Just suicidal then.”

“Let him go.” Reid said glaring at the teen behind the boy and the other just smirked, “Or what?”

“Or else I’ll end you.”

The other teen scoffed even as Leo continued to struggle in his grasp, “And exactly how do you plan on doing that, stud?”

Reid turned his head to the side to spit out the blood collecting in his mouth before he looked back up took a step forward, “Keep pissing me off and you’ll find out. Now let him go.”

“Ooh, someone got feisty.” The teen chuckled as he turned his head a bit so he was looking down at Leo’s profile, “I think you’ve been a bad influence.”

“Hey! This is your last fucking warning, I’m not letting you take him and use him like some kind of battery. Let Leo go, right now.” Reid growled out and the other teen just chuckled in amusement. Reid was bluffing and they knew it.

Reid wasn’t strong enough to beat him, never has been. No there’s only one way to end this. Only one way to stop the cycle from repeating itself all over again, only one way to make sure no one else got hurt ever again.

“Now Leo, be a good boy.” The teen purred against Leo’s ear, briefly licking the shell and giving it a nip while keeping his eyes on the fuming blonde as he spoke and Leo couldn’t help the cringe and shiver of disgust as he gave another futile tug to no avail, “Don’t.” Leo felt a harsh squeeze on his shoulder that made him wince as the other continued, “Pay attention. I want you to see exactly what’s going to happen the next time you even think about leaving me.”

The teen lifted his hand and Leo gasped when Reid was suddenly levitated into the air.

“NO!”

“Fuck!” Reid’s arms suddenly snapped to the side as if being held in place by an invisible force and Leo stopped breathing as the figure behind him spoke.

“Let’s see just how tough he is.”

There’s only one way to end this.

Leo’s eyes started to fill with tears and his throat clenched, decision made.

He’s ending this, right now.

~ FLASH BACK ~

Caleb tried not to stare, but it was hard not to.

Leo was on the couch with Reid. Sitting between the blonde’s legs while Reid leaned against his back, reaching over his shoulders to twirl and spin the little trinkets levitating just a few feet in front of them. Reid leaned in towards the younger boy’s ear to whisper something and Leo laughed, moving a little further back so his head rested on Reid’s shoulder and the blonde glanced down at him with those pitch black eyes as he smirked before looking back up towards the sculptures and light bulbs floating in front of them.

It’s hard trying to figure out exactly what Reid’s intentions are; whether he was with Leo because he actually liked him or because he was just using the boy the same way that Chase did before Leo managed to escape. During Caleb’s fight with Chase at the barn Reid went looking for Leo and found him stashed in an abandoned building on the other side of town. It wasn’t too hard since the magical share they did a few days earlier still left enough of a link for Reid to be able to track him. They haven’t been apart since and again, Caleb wasn’t sure if Reid actually liked Leo or if he was just using him.

Reid ascended a month ago and Caleb knows how it feels to suddenly be overwhelmed by all that power, he knows the temptation that his friend faced with Leo. The urge to trap the boy and keep him close so he could use all that power as much as he desires without  ever needing to restrain himself for fear of weakening. Caleb understood that quite well. But at the same time Reid seemed pretty sincere since he stopped chasing after girls once Leo moved into his house.

He made it a point to make sure that he was the one taking care of Leo and then of course there was the incident that happened after Reid found out exactly how Caleb managed to gather enough power to defeat Chase. After all, it’s been a while since he was punched in the face and kicked that hard.

_“You fucked him?! You fucked Leo?!”_

The rage he saw in Reid’s eyes in that moment was immeasurable, which is why he had his doubts about the blonde’s sincerity towards the younger boy. Not because what he did wasn’t wrong because it was beyond wrong, Caleb knows that. But because besides the anger, Reid’s eyes held a strange edge to them it was more than just anger it was jealousy and greed. The look of a man that had tasted true power and wanted more of it; the same look that he saw in Chase’s eyes.

Of course they knew about the night when Reid took Leo for a ride and they ended up almost going right over the cliff, they also knew that Leo was forced to share energy with Reid to get them back to safety. What they didn’t know, was how Reid was reacting to all of that.

Caleb knew from everything he’d learnt from his father and his own experience with Leo, that a vessel once found could be just as addictive as the power itself since the vessel gave you a way of using that power without limitations. When they went off the cliff that night, Leo may not have fully bonded with Reid, but he definitely gave him a taste and now they were constantly watching Reid, trying to make sure that he didn’t suffer the same fate as Chase, but it was hard.

They couldn’t be around Reid all the time and with Leo living with him they had no idea as to what was going on between those two.

At least not till about two weeks ago when Tyler walked in on them making out in the middle of the kitchen. Leo immediately flushed with embarrassment and quickly left the room while Reid just stood by the kitchen sink as he reached for one of the beer cans he had sitting on the counter; his skin was flushed, there was a smug smirk on his bruised lips and his eyes had burned into a dark pitch black before they faded back into their normal blue as he left the room and headed towards he living room where everyone else was, completely ignoring Tyler’s insistent questions on exactly what was going on.

Reid avoided the topic whenever one of them brought it up and they could never get anything out of Leo since Reid was almost always around the teen whenever they saw him so he’d never say anything about it then. He just stuck by Reid side; except for school, they never saw Reid away from him.

Pogue tried talking to Leo, since Leo was closer to the brunette than Tyler or Caleb but Leo would always just shrug it off with and wouldn’t say much about it.

_“I like him.”_

_“He makes me laugh.”_

_“There’s nothing to say.”_

And that’s really all they ever got out of him.

“We’re gonna take off.” Reid suddenly said cutting off Caleb’s train of thought, he looked over to see the blonde pulling on his jacket before reaching out a hand to help Leo up.

“Where are you going?” Tyler asked from his spot on the couch nearest to the window and Reid shrugged, “Nicki’s for a few drinks then home.”

“Home?” Caleb asked and Reid gave a snort. “Yeah, home.”

“Since when are you so eager to go home?”

“Things change.”

He turned around putting a hand on Leo’s lower back and Leo said nothing as he was led out of the room. Pogue, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, frowned before reaching back to toss a dishtowel back onto the counter stepped out into the room as well. “Hey you know what, I haven’t been to Nicki’s in a while, I’ll join you guys.”

“Yeah, I’ll come too.” Caleb said with a smile shoving his hands in his pockets, “Sarah’s got a thing with her parents tonight so I don’t have much to do.”

Reid’s looked over at Caleb his eyes narrowed down at him the slightest bit as for a moment as his arm went from Leo’s back to wrap all around his waist before he nodded his head, “Cool.”

Reid didn’t trust him around Leo that much was obvious although Caleb isn’t entirely sure if he’d trust himself with Leo if he were in Reid’s position. There was a moment of tense silence, Tyler cleared his throat as he got up from his seat with a forced smile, “Yeah, I’ll pass, my mom wants me back early tonight.”

“Your loss.” Reid said steering Leo towards the door when Pogue suddenly stopped them short as he snatched up his keys and gave the boy a smile, “Hey Leo, my bike just got out of the shop. I still promised you a ride, remember.”

Leo didn’t say anything at first, instead he paused looked up at Reid for a moment and for that moment the blonde hesitated before he nodded and Leo gave a bright smile, “Sure!”

Caleb, Pogue and Tyler all shared a look at the odd exchange when Leo spoke again, “Can I drive?”

Pogue gave a snort as he walked over towards the door to grab his helmet and the spare he kept beside it, “I just got it fixed so no.”

Leo started to pout as he followed Pogue out the door when Reid spoke, “Caleb, you coming?”

“Uh yeah,” They left the house and Pogue locked it behind them, Tyler drove off just before Caleb got in his car, Reid got in his jeep and drove off while Leo waited by the garage for Pogue to bring out his bike.

“So how ya doing? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in ages.”

Leo shrugged, kicking at the concrete beneath his feet as Pogue kicked out the bike stand, “I’ve been good. Reid’s really cool so, I’m fine.”

“Then what was that back there?”

“What was what?”

“When I asked if you wanted to ride with me, you waited for Reid to nod first. It’s like you were waiting for his permission or something.” Pogue started as he made to hand Leo the spare helmet pausing to brush off the tiny black spider crawling on it before he did and the boy looked away making him frown, “Leo is something going on between you two. Cause you know you don’t have to stay with him, you can come back here anytime you want.”

“There’s nothing going on with me and Reid. Nothing bad anyway.”

“Leo-“

“We’re not even together like that. It’s just…” Leo paused taking a deep breath as his hands over the helmet’s hard shell, “It’s been hard since Chase disappeared and I just I need… I need an anchor, something to hold me down. Chase was that for me. I never did anything unless he said so, never went anywhere. He hurt me and he took away my family and I’ll always hate him for that, but for a really long time he was everything I had he was my anchor but now he’s gone and I’m happy that he’s gone but without my family I feel sort of lost and-” Leo let out a deep sigh and his hands clenched around the helmet, “I need something to hold me down and Reid’s letting me hold onto him just until I learn to stand on my own so... You don’t have to worry. He’s not hurting me or forcing me to do anything O.K? I know what I’m doing.”

“This isn’t just about you, Leo.” Pogue said giving a sigh, “Using magic gets addictive and if things between you and Reid don’t work out… if you leave him he won’t be able to reco-”

“Reid isn’t using me as his vessel.”

“What?”

“He isn’t as reckless or immature as you guys think you know.” Leo said looking up at the other with a steady gaze, “Reid knows the risks, he knows what could happen if things go too far. He doesn’t use me as his vessel.”

Pogue stepped forward with a frown, “But you’re always-“

“We kiss sometimes, make out but it’s not nearly enough for a real channel to be opened, it’s always superficial. It doesn’t last long and he has to keep contact with me when he uses it but it’s not nearly as often as you think it is.”

Pogue was… genuinely surprised.

“So you haven’t-“

“No the only person I’ve had sex with besides Chase is Caleb, if you want to be worried about someone be worried about him.”

“What do you mean?”

Leo paused for a moment seeming to struggle with his words before he spoke, “He still takes energy from me sometimes.”

“He what?!”

“I don’t think he does it on purpose. I don’t think he even knows he’s doing it when he does but sometimes I can feel him taking from me and giving back. The channel he opened before he fought Chase hasn’t closed yet, it’s getting weaker and I’m pretty sure it’ll close soon but we’re still connected.”

Pogue’s eyes went wide, “What-… how long has this been happening?”

“I don’t know, a while. That’s why Reid makes me stay away from him; he’s scared something might happen if I’m alone with Caleb for too long.”

“You told him.”

“No, he can tell when it happens. With Chase it was different, the connection was strong cause he was always, every other day he’d… you know.” Leo made a vague gesture with his hand as he looked at Pogue without really looking at him, but Pogue nodded his understanding. “I could feel it when Chase took from me and my body wouldn’t react much, but with Caleb the connection is rough and frayed… we only did it once so when he takes from me my body reacts to it. I get weak and I get muscle spasms, that’s how Reid can tell.”

Pogue sighed raking a hand through his hair, “Leo why haven’t you said anything?”

“I figured I could hold out.” Leo shrugged, “Like I said it’s getting weaker. I give it a few days before the channel closes completely. Look my point is things between Reid and I are fine and as for Caleb… He’ll be fine too. Once the channel closes things will go back to normal for him so I think it’s best if I just stay away from him.”

“Long as you’re sure.”

“Positive.” Leo said with a bright smile that Pogue returned as he straddled his bike and pulled on his helmet. “C’mon, we’ll need to get going if we’re going to catch up.”

“Can I drive now?”

“No.”

When they got to Nicki’s Caleb and Reid were both already inside.

Reid was at the pool table, racking up the balls before grabbing a pool stick while Caleb was at the bar presumably getting their drinks. Leo went over to stand by Reid’s side while Pogue went to go meet Caleb at the bar.

“And?” Caleb asked once his best friend was standing beside him and Pogue shrugged as he leaned against the bar, “He says they’re fine. Reid isn’t using him as his vessel. Apparently kissing is as far as they ever go, they’re not even together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“They don’t act like it.” Caleb noted when he caught sight of Reid wrapping his arm around Leo’s waist to pull him close and his eyes narrowed down at the two and Pogue couldn’t help but frown at the look on his friends face.

It was silent between the two for a moment before the bartender came up to them and set down a tray full of drinks, Pogue grabbed a beer and Caleb took the tray making to turn and walk towards the pool table when Pogue spoke stopping him short.

“You know, you never talk about what happened that day.”

“What day?”

“That day with Leo.”

“Would you talk about it?” Caleb snapped before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, “I basically forced myself on him Pogue, he didn’t want it.”

“It was necessary, Chase was too strong.”

“That’s no excuse.”

“I know but,” Pogue sighed, “Leo isn’t angry about it, if anything he’s a little worried.”

“Worried about what?”

The brunette paused, “Nothing, look Leo says that he and Reid are O.K and I believe him. Maybe we should just back off, for now.”

Caleb didn’t say anything for a moment but his hands clenched around his tray before he looked up at the pool table Pogue suddenly caught sight of Leo’s mouth falling open in a sharp gasp before he quickly pulled himself together just as Reid turned to face him. Pogue frowned. “You know, you’ve been getting stronger lately.”

Caleb looked like he was fighting back hard against the urge to role his eyes, “I ascended five months ago, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember but that isn’t what I’m talking about.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“I-…” Pogue paused for a moment unsure of what to say. Leo said that Caleb probably wasn’t aware of what he was doing and from what he can tell the younger teen is right, Caleb has no idea so would it be O.K to tell him that he’s been taking energy from Leo without knowing it? What if knowing made Caleb more conscious of it and that knowledge in turn made him more attached to Leo? Leo said that the channel was closing and getting weaker, he’s convinced that once its closed Caleb will be better off. But what if he isn’t?

“Nothing… I was just thinking.” Pogue said giving the other a smile as he nodded towards the pool table, “C’mon lets go play.”

Caleb raised a brow at his friend but otherwise didn’t say a word as they walked over to the table.

For now, they’ll just back off. Leo’s been through a lot and if he says that there’s nothing going on between him and Reid then Pogue believes him, Leo just wants someone to hold onto and after everything that happened with Chase and his family he deserves that much right?

As for Caleb…

The channel will close soon and everything will be fine. Caleb isn’t unstable or crazy like Chase was; if he isn’t aware of what he’s doing then he probably isn’t even taking much energy to begin with. Caleb has always been the responsible one, the one who always played it safe he’ll be fine and everything will go back to normal.

Pogue looked up at the sound of Reid’s laugh as the blonde leaned forward to brace his hand beside Leo’s hip on the table as he spoke while Leo just rolled his eyes and he couldn’t help but wonder. Leo said that they aren’t together, that Reid is just helping him pull himself together and get grounded, but Pogue couldn’t help but wonder if Reid _knew_ that they weren’t together because so far all evidence is pointing towards the contrary.

The brunette shook his head and walked up to the two as he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, snatching the pool stick from Reid’s other hand and earning an indignant shout and Leo laughed as the two started to argue until he felt eyes burning into the back of his head before he almost jumped right out of his skin when he suddenly felt someone moving in beside him only to look up and find Caleb standing right beside him with a drink in his hand.

“Thirsty?”

“I-uhm…” Leo hesitated struggling to look up and make eye contact with the older teen, he could feel the connection that bound them vibrate with energy. It was much weaker than it used to be and even as they stood there Leo could feel it closing little by little. But it was still there, he could still feel it. That and the undeniable smell of alcohol coming from the glass made it even harder. It was a glass of Jack and coke, Leo knew the smell well enough to know which whiskey it was since Chase always liked to drink it straight, the smell was something he got to know well over the year that he spent with Chase.

Once they were in Chicago, Chase had rented an apartment and it had been two months since that night of the talent show and Leo was in an even worse mood than normal since Chase had managed to heal the cuts he’d slashed onto his arm the night before and cast a spell to stop him from ever doing that again. Leo was left alone like he was on most days when he found Chase’s stash of alcohol and the teen figure that since he couldn’t cut his wrists or attempt to jump out of the window anymore he might as well see if alcohol poisoning wouldn’t deliver better results.

It didn’t.

He ended up passing out after he ran out and suffered the world’s worst hangover in history since Chase didn’t comeback till a day after he left. After that he swore off all alcohol cold turkey and hasn’t touched it since.

So Leo just stared at the glass when Caleb held it out, sudden flashes of Chase finding him on the bathroom floor and holding him against his chest till he felt better came to mind and it made something ache hard in his chest. Only for another memory of Chase coming home after his last hunt to come to mind and his stomach turned forcing the teen to force back a cringe at the memory of tasting someone else’s blood on Chase’s mouth when he fucked him later that night.

Swallowing hard to rid himself of those thoughts Leo gave Caleb a wry smile and shook his head, “I don’t really drink any-“

“It’s an apology,” Caleb blurted out before giving a sigh as he continued, “I know this doesn’t make up for it but, I’m sorry about…we never talked about-“

“It’s fine really, desperate times call for desperate measures right?” Leo said quietly, “Besides, I know you weren’t trying to hurt me and it only happened once, Chase is gone so you know…” At that last part Leo glanced back at Reid wishing that the blonde would stop arguing with Pogue and come save him from that situation. What happened, happened and he really doesn’t blame Caleb for any of it, but he and Caleb aren’t friends either. And the whole sex thing just makes everything all the more awkward even if they hadn’t done it in the romantic sense. Leo just doesn’t ever want to think about that night again.

They don’t have anything in common; it’s different with Pogue who’s sort of like a big brother and Reid who’s well… Reid. In all honesty Leo isn’t quite ready to try and put a label on whatever it is that he and Reid have but he’s comfortable enough to admit that he cares about Reid a lot. Then there’s Tyler, who’s alright but Caleb is just so… he makes Leo feel uncomfortable for lots of reasons but the main one being the whole sex thing, it left a channel between them that made Leo feel like Caleb still owned him in a way and he felt like he was almost cheating on Reid even if they aren’t actually dating.

“Yeah I know.” Caleb looked away, looking somewhat like a kicked puppy as he held the glass in his hand and briefly flicked away a tiny spider crawling on the edge of the pool table like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself and Leo sighed since that look on the older teen’s face made him feel so much worse. I mean they saved him right? Caleb beat Chase and now Leo’s free, yeah it’s incredibly awkward and uncomfortable now but the least he could do is accept his apology right?

“Maybe just this one time, thanks by the way.” Leo said with a smile as he took the drink from Caleb, being careful not to let their hands touch and Caleb returned the smile, “No, problem.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Hang on I’ll be right back.” Sarah said as she quickly got up from her seat and made her way towards the shelves near the furthest wall in the library and Leo just nodded, fighting back against the disgust and guilt all churning around inside of him as the girl disappeared.

Reid went to swim club and so Sarah suggested going to the library to study instead of watching them practice and Leo agreed.

He has a lot to catch up on after all, after missing nearly a whole year of school he had fallen behind big-time. He’s only a sophomore now and Sarah is a senior along with the others and after hearing Leo’s story the girl decided to help out and tutor him in a couple of his classes so he could catch up. And that made Leo feel all the more guilty since every time Sarah smiled at him or told him a joke in the hopes of cheering him up, he’d just remember Caleb and exactly what he did with her boyfriend.

Of course Sarah didn’t know anything about that, all she knew was that Caleb found a way to beat Chase and really that’s all that mattered.

It happened about two days after Chase caught Pogue and Kate and put Sarah in the hospital. Chase moved houses and had him setup in an old abandoned house across town, but Reid and Caleb were still able to find him, well Reid found him. Caleb just followed his directions and found Leo first before Reid came and took him away later when Chase was distracted during his fight with Caleb.

Caleb found him in one of the rooms upstairs, asked Leo if Chase had any weaknesses or anything they could use to defeat him. Leo answered honestly saying that the only way to beat Chase would be to kill _him_ and secretly Leo hoped that Caleb would do it.

Leo missed his family. He missed his mom, Adam, Bree and Chase and big D. heck he even missed Eddy. But they’re all gone now and Leo was exhausted.

He just felt so tired, he wanted it all to end.

But of course Caleb wouldn’t, he said he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he killed an innocent person, Leo called him an idiot and glared hard at the wall. Then he asked about the time that he shared energy with Reid and Leo explained how he did it, how he was able to tap into the energy stored within him and channel it through Reid. He explained what needed to happen in order for any of that to work what needed to happen for more energy to be transferred without the need for further contact. And Caleb replied-

“I thought so.”

That’s the only warning Leo got before Caleb suddenly started moving closer, causing the boy to squirm back and frown in confusion, “What’re you-“

Suddenly Caleb was kissing him and suddenly Leo understood.

It hurt… a lot.

Caleb didn’t know what he was doing and it showed, but Leo figured that most if not all of Caleb’s sexual experience was that of the heterosexual variety so he didn’t say a word. Just let the other do it.

He wasn’t really meant to enjoy it anyway and truthfully he didn’t want to enjoy it.

He was just a tool, just being used the way that Chase used him.

Although Caleb’s intentions were good, so he tried to just block out everything and let it happen. The thought that this might all be over soon was the only thing that kept him sane even as he shut his eyes to keep the tears from falling and wrapped his arms around Caleb’s shoulders holding on tight as he bit down on his lip hard. Caleb pinned him to the wall, making frantic thrusts into the younger teen while he said “I’m sorry.” over and over again in Leo’s ear until he finished.

Once it was over Leo was in agony, not just from the aches in his body but from the magic stored within him as well. He could feel Chase’s anger through the connection and he knew the older teen knew what he’d done. But more than that the magic within him was warring with itself, fighting and struggling like it was trying tear itself apart while simultaneously trying to escape the body that imprisoned it.

There were two masters laying claim to it and to the vessel in which it was trapped and it was like an entity being pulled at from two different sides, stretching it to its limits.

It was different with Reid since all Leo did was kiss him. But Chase bonded with him plenty of times and what happened with Caleb happened recently enough to throw the energy within him into complete turmoil.

Leo remembers seeing Caleb’s eyes before he left, they were pitch black and pulsing with power and something in Leo’s chest tugged hard at the sight before he left.

Reid and Tyler found him later; Chase had gone and kidnapped Sarah from the hospital so he and Caleb were fighting by then so they found Leo on the floor, writhing in pain and clutching at the wooden floors as energy continued to leave his body in uneven bursts and in two different directions.

It hurt like hell, every time Caleb took from him his back would arch right off the floor and he’d feel the magic being pulled from his chest. Chase was less traumatic but it was still incredibly painful.

Reid wrapped him in a blanket as he held the younger teen close and asked him what was wrong, but Leo was in no condition to speak and just screamed every two to five seconds.

It was about thirty minutes before the pain eased up and he briefly heard Tyler breathe, “Happy birthday Caleb.” Before he was overwhelmed all over again, until it eased up even more a few minutes later and suddenly he felt the presence of new magic, it felt the way it did whenever Chase drained a warlock dry and Leo couldn’t help but wonder where it came from and who it was for before the pain suddenly just stopped a few minutes later.

Suddenly Caleb wasn’t taking from him anymore, suddenly he couldn’t feel Chase anymore. He was just gone.

Leo blacked out; he didn’t wake up again till a few days later in the hospital. Reid made up some excuse about his parents adopting him and the staff believed him. Apparently Reid’s parents were eccentric and were hardly ever in town, but when they were in town their behavior was odd enough that just adopting some kid and dropping him off with their only son seemed like a viable reason for Leo to be there and that probably would have been the end of it, if it hadn’t been for Leo’s injuries that is.

The doctor said he had the kind of wounds and abrasions they usually find in rape victims and threatened to have the police called in if she didn’t start getting some answers. Leo tried to brush it off at first but the doctor wasn’t buying it, so he said that he was messing around with this guy and things got out of hand, although the doctor still wasn’t buying it there wasn’t much she could do since Leo swore that it was all consensual. Despite the fact that he was just sixteen and it technically counted as statutory rape there wasn’t much they could do unless Leo pressed charges and the boy refused to do that.

That might have been the end of it, if the Reid hadn’t actually been there at the time and he suddenly realized exactly why Caleb hadn’t taken Leo away when he found him a few days ago. Reid and Caleb fought for what felt like forever until Pogue managed to calm them down, but it was two weeks later before they actually spoke again. Eventually things settled down, Reid’s parents stopped by in town a couple of times but that was never for very long.

His mother didn’t seem too bothered by his presence just accepting him as just another one of Reid’s friends and his step father barely even paid them any attention, until they found out about the rumors claiming that they’d adopted him and then they started asking questions. Reid didn’t tell them everything. His step father didn’t know anything about magic but his mother did. He told her that Leo got mixed up in some trouble with a warlock and that’s why he as staying there and he had to make up that lie. Leo was a little surprised at how easily the woman just accepted that excuse. The moment she heard the word warlock she seemed to sigh quietly in frustration before leaving the room, telling Reid that Leo was his responsibility and to make sure they didn’t cause any trouble.

Leo would later learn that Reid’s father passed away just four years ago despite only being about thirty-eight years old, apparently he kept abusing his powers, the magic took a toll on him and his body eventually just broke down. Since then his mother hasn’t wanted anything to do with magic and basically just ignores Reid choosing to focus on her job and new husband instead. It was then that Leo realized why Reid was so attached to him, why he insisted on taking care of him and looking out for the younger boy. It wasn’t just about that night on the cliff, it’s because besides his friends Reid didn’t really have anyone else.

Still, things eventually got better.

Leo got used to living in Ipswich, he got used to the people in the quiet town although he missed Mission Creek he settled in eventually. Reid’s asked him a couple of times, if he didn’t want to go back to Mission Creek to see his grandmother but Leo just couldn’t.

The idea of going back home made his heart sink. He couldn’t stand the idea of going back home and seeing his grandmother, seeing school and the house. After everything that happened, Leo knew that he wouldn’t be able to stand it and Reid never tried to push so he never went home, never tried to get any news about home either. Leo guessed that Adam, Bree, Chase, big D and his mother’s bodies have probably been found by now and he’s heard news about Davenport industries undergoing some major changes over the past year but Leo couldn’t bear to think back to his old life, so he tried to avoid finding out more than he really needed to.

Things were going O.K.

But now Leo has a new problem in Caleb Danvers.

Caleb isn’t hurting Leo, in fact after what happened between them a few months ago it seemed like Caleb was actively avoiding him and Leo was actually really grateful for it. But now-

The teen gave a sigh as he stared down at his history books running his hand over his face in frustration.

Leo’s been having some strange dreams as of late.

At first they started off as nightmares, mostly revolving around what happened in Mission Creek and other things involving Chase.

He’d dream that they were back in the house and that Chase forced him to sit there and watch as he tore his family apart other times he’d dream that Chase came back and took him away and killed Reid.

These days his dreams have been different.

They started out in Reid’s house. He’d “wake up” to find himself in bed with Reid on top of him. Kissing him and touching him with that arrogant grin as he slowly took Leo’s clothes off. That wasn’t the weird part, not since he and Reid have sort of been messing around as of late. They never went all the way but they usually got pretty close.

Essentially the dreams started off nice.

Until he suddenly felt a hand around his neck squeezing tight, he’d look up and suddenly it wasn’t Reid anymore; it was Chase. Leo would struggle and scream all while Chase just smirked at him before forcing him back onto the bed, holding his hands up above his head with his free hand as he leaned in to hiss into the teen’s ear.

“Bad, bad boy Leo. You’ve forgotten who you belong to.”

“Let me go!” Leo would scream only for Chase’s hand to go even tighter around his neck causing the teen to choke as he spoke, “You can’t get away from me Leo. I’m never going to let you go.”

As terrifying as that was, that wasn’t the weird part either.

He’s used to getting nightmares of Chase, he was trapped with him for so long it’s hard not just thinking about Chase sometimes. The weird part came next, because suddenly… suddenly Chase’s voice changed. Suddenly Chase seemed taller and bigger and he just felt differently even in the dream.

The teen on top of him would pull back and Leo would gasp in shock when he saw the person hovering right above him with a cruel smirk spread over his lips and that same look of dark power in his eyes as that time when he fought against Chase.

“Ca-Caleb?... No-” the hand around his throat suddenly went up to cover his mouth to muffle his scream as Caleb leaned in a little closer, “Shhh, relax. It’ll hurt more if you try to fight me.”

Leo tried to shout through the hand and squirm away only for Caleb to smile as his head gave a tilt, “You need to remember who you belong to.”

Sometimes Leo would get lucky and he’d wake up right at that moment before anything could happen. Other times, luck just wasn’t on his side and it always felt so vividly real too. Reid didn’t know about the dreams, he’s heard Leo have night terrors before and usually did what he could to wake the teen up when he got them, but Leo never told him what he was dreaming about. He’d always just say Chase and Reid would hold him tight before they both fell asleep in Leo’s room.

For his part, Leo doesn’t know what to make of the dreams. He tried to ignore them but they kept coming back and it was becoming decidedly more difficult being in the same room as Caleb in the days after he had those dreams. It’s stupid, because what happened between them was a onetime thing and Caleb wouldn’t actually hurt him like that. But the dreams wouldn’t stop, so Leo just tried to keep his distance, hoping that the dreams would go away with time.

“Found it!”

Leo jumped when a book suddenly hit the table top beside him and he looked up with wide eyes to find Sarah with a large grin as before it turned into a cringe as she combed her fingers through her hair and flicked it to the side, “Cobwebs stupid things still freak me out.” Before she looked back at Leo with a grin that seemed to immediately fade at the terrified look on the younger teen’s face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“It’s O.K you just surprised me that’s all.” Leo said giving the girl a smile that Sarah returned as he nodded towards the book she put on the table, “What’s this?”

“I found this when I was doing research on Caleb’s family history before… well before the thing with, you know.” The girl said a bit awkwardly and Leo just nodded his head as she moved her seat a little closer to his and moved the book closer as well. It looked old bound in brown leather and there were weird markings written on the front, one word stood out above the rest on the front and Leo almost froze since he remembered that word.

Veneficus.

“I didn’t really understand what it was about when I found it at first but then after everything that happened, it started making a lot more sense.”

“It’s a spell book?”

“Not exactly,” Sarah explained, “It’s more like a how to manual, there aren’t any spells to speak of but from what I can understand, the book explains how magic works; limits to your abilities, draining another wizard of their energy, how to stop yourself from using too much and-and it also has information on vessels as well. How rare they are… exactly how a warlock stores magic inside them.”

Leo looked away with a soft sigh and Sarah brushed her hair behind her ear, “I’m sorry, I know you probably don’t want to talk about that-“

Leo let out a soft snort, “Probably.”

“But I wasn’t trying to make you, I thought we could use the book to find a way to help you, maybe find a way for you to use the magic inside you without channeling it through someone else. I just… I wanted to make sure you knew what would be in here before I opened it.”

“I get it,” Leo said trying for a small smile as he just set his arms on the table and nodded towards the book, “What’s it say?”

“Well, I haven’t really gone through it in a couple of months.” Sarah said as she opened the book and started to carefully flip through the worn out pages scribbled with notes and sketches next to the hand written pages. Leo recognized a couple of the pictures as Sarah flipped through them. There was a thin chain with star shaped links drawn onto one of the pages that she paused on, the book called it a magical thread, Chase used to call it insurance for whenever they moved to a new town.

Leo suppressed a shiver at the thought.

“See this is the section about vessels, but you already know about most of that.”

“Wait, what’s this?” Leo said as he stopped the girl before she could flip the page and Sarah pulled it a bit closer so they could both see it a little better. There was a symbol drawn on the corner of the page it looked like an eye that had a line drawn right down the middle. It was familiar, very familiar.

Usually whenever Chase transferred energy over to him, Leo would see the symbol glowing white on the side of the other’s neck, he asked Chase what it meant once but Chase just watched him for a moment before he said that Leo didn’t need know.

Sarah’s head gave a slight tilt when her eyes filled with realization, “It’s a transfer symbol. For when a wizard gives up their powers.”

“What like permanently?”

“It only goes one way.” Sarah said with a short laugh when she saw the contemplative look on the younger teen’s face and she paused, “It’s not like it was with you and Chase though. Once the power leaves the wizard they’re life-force leaves them so they die, unless-“

“Unless they have a bonded vessel and they transfer it to them then they could live forever.” Leo finished with a sigh and Sarah gave a wry smile, “Yeah.”

“How does the incantation go?” Leo asked and Sarah leaned down so she could see the tiny words written beneath the symbol, “I will you my power.”

“That’s it?”

“Looks like it.”

Sarah paused as she stared at the teen who folded his arms and lay down on the table, “Did he ever take you with him when he-“

“No,” Leo shook his head, “He was scared one of them might figure out what I am and take me away or try to use me against him. But I could always feel it when he killed someone or took their powers away from them.”

“Oh.” The girl said with a nod as he flipped from one page to the next before speaking, “So you didn’t know what he was doing until he was actually doing it. There weren’t any signs…”

Leo frowned, “This isn’t really about Chase is it?”

Sarah’s eyes widened in shock and she just shook her head, “No I’m not-“

“It’s O.K, you can ask, I’m not made from glass.” Leo said with a sigh, “Chase is gone now, I’m not afraid to talk about him anymore.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s just…” Sarah took a deep breath, “Its Caleb, he’s been acting strangely lately and I don’t know what to do.”

Leo immediately tensed at the mention of the other’s name but tried his hardest not to show it, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, he’s been off lately.” Sarah said brushing her hair behind her ear, “It started after Chase disappeared so at first I thought he was still shaken up after what happened and I should just give him some space but lately… He’s distracted, like there’s something on his mind but when I ask him he says there’s nothing wrong. And he’s so much stronger than he was before.”

“He ascended.” Leo said sitting up with his arms still resting on the table and Sarah sighed, “I know that, but Caleb used to be so careful with his powers. Yesterday he was helping me get my car out of a ditch on the side of the road. It was filled with mud and I couldn’t get out myself so I called him. When he got there I expected him to just move it a little so it wasn’t stuck in the mud anymore the way he’s done before but yesterday he didn’t just move it he lifted it clear out of the ditch and when he set it down on the road he looked surprised, like he hadn’t expected it. That’s not the first time he’s done something like this… I don’t know it’s like he doesn’t know his own strength anymore.”

Leo shifted a bit more in his seat, “Leo, when you met Chase did he… how did you know something was wrong?”

The teen sighed, “I didn’t, not till it was too late anyway. I didn’t know about magic or life forces back then so I noticed some weird stuff but that’s not really the kind of stuff that’ll surprise me now that I do know.”

“Oh.” Sarah breathed and Leo tried for a smile, “I’m sure Caleb’s fine. He ascended remember and after the thing with Chase, maybe he just hasn’t gotten used to it yet. Give him time, I’m sure he’ll come around soon enough.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just getting paranoid.” Sarah said with a small laugh as she started flipping through the book again. “I really need to stop listening to Kate’s conspiracy theories.”

Leo gave a snort, “Conspiracy theory?”

“Yeah, she said Caleb might be getting stronger because he found himself a vessel somewhere, stupid huh?”

Leo’s eyes went wide and he froze in shock, thankfully Sarah’s attention was on the book so she didn’t notice, “Yeah, stupid.”

“I tried to tell her that vessels were too rare for Caleb to suddenly just find one and you’re with Reid so…” The girl trailed off when something interesting caught her eye and Leo couldn’t correct her and tell her that Reid wasn’t actually using him as his vessel. It would just give Kate’s conspiracy theories too much weight if he did, so he kept it to himself.

“I’ve read all this before, but none of it is…” Sarah trailed off as she lifted her head biting her lip for a moment before she suddenly stood from her chair. “Hang on; I think I saw another book marked like this one near the back. I’ll be right back.”

“O.K.” Leo said with a nod as the girl turned back to the shelves where she disappeared to before while the teen just pulled the book closer to start flipping through the pages.

The section on Vessels was actually a lot longer than Sarah made it out to be but there was nothing in there that he didn’t already know. For all his insanity, Chase never lied to him about what he was or what Leo was after they left Mission Creek. Sure he kept some things to himself like the thing about the mark on his neck but generally when Leo asked him something Chase never hesitated in answering.

The teen let out a sigh.

Sometimes when he’s alone he starts rationalizing the things that Chase did. It just made things easier to deal with, it made the fact that the warlock ruined his life and killed his family a little easier to swallow when he thought of it as Chase doing it for a reason rather than the teen just doing it out of greed. Sometimes his mind locks onto the quiet times with Chase and he’d almost start to forget about everything else, the lives he destroyed and the people he killed. Sometimes Leo wonders what might have happened if he hadn’t tried to reject Chase, if he’d just answered the phone or texted back. How long would it have been before Chase tried to take him away by force, would he have even needed to? But then his mind would remind him of the things that Chase was doing to him when he didn’t know it. How the warlock took advantage of him and broke his trust. What if that had carried on for only God knows how many more weeks or months or maybe even years.

Leo kept flipping through the worn pages until he caught sight of that mark on the upper left corner of the book and read the inscription beneath it.

_A simple taste can breed desire breeds need breeds greed and greed breeds darkness within the soul. A vessel once bound can never be released. Bound for all eternity even in death._

The teen swallowed hard as he shifted back in his seat a bit, when he suddenly felt someone sit down beside him and he jumped in surprise only to frown when he saw no one there.

Shit, he’s here.

A shiver ran down Leo’s spine and he let out a deep breath, Leo looked back impatiently hoping that Sarah would appear and briefly debated the option of just getting up to look for her as he felt Caleb enter the building and move closer. Leo didn’t have to see the entrance to know that the older teen was there.

Taking deep breaths, Leo quickly grabbed the book and pulled it closer so he could at least look a little more occupied while silently hoping that Sarah would come back soon. He counted the seconds as they went by, feeling Caleb move closer and closer until the older teen finally came around the corner a few shelves away from where he and Sarah were studying and Caleb almost seemed to give a  pause before just continuing on his path until he was standing right beside the table.

Leo tried to keep his breathing steady.

‘It’s just Caleb. Caleb wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t-‘

“Hey.” The taller teen finally said and Leo glanced up at the other to see him standing with his hands in his pockets as he looked but didn’t really look at Leo. His hair was wet, the teen noted in his brief glance. Which probably meant that he just got out of swim practice which probably meant that Reid was out too and-God, Leo wished that Reid was there.

“Hey.” Leo said awkwardly as he returned his gaze to the book when Caleb spoke again, “I thought Sarah was studying with you.”

“She went to go look for a book, she’ll probably be back in a minute. She went over there. I’m sure you’d find her if you were in a hurry.” And Leo genuinely hoped that Caleb would go look for his girlfriend to end this awkward moment but of course he did the exact opposite of that.

“No, I can wait.” Caleb said as he grabbed one of the chairs at the large rounded table and pulled it out so he could sit down and Leo couldn’t help but look up at the other before bringing his gaze back to the book, trying and failing to actually read some of the handwritten text on the old pages.

“Reid was looking for you. You weren’t watching practice like you usually are so he got a little worried.” Caleb suddenly said and Leo’s eyes snapped up at the mention of the blonde’s name. “Right, I should probably get going-“

“It’s fine. Tyler told him that you were studying with Sarah at the library. He said he’ll come find you here.”

“Oh.” Leo deflated as he settled back in his seat and went back to trying to fake read the book in front of him.

The silence was so dense it was almost painful and Leo was starting to seriously debate the option of just getting up and leaving to go find Reid without telling Sarah, no matter how rude it might have been.

I mean seriously what’s taking her so long?

The teen moved to take out the phone that Pogue gave him a week after Chase vanished and checked the time only to sigh in frustration when he finally decided to just give up and leave. Manners be damned, he couldn’t just sit there with Caleb feeling the way he did.

Leo pushed his chair out and got up, closing the book in his hands and setting it aside as he spoke, “I should really go, Sarah and I are done with all the revision work she was helping me with anyway.”

Caleb just watched the teen for a moment as he stacked up his books and pulled his stationary together before he spoke, “Hey, before you go there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Leo glanced over at the other before just leaning over the table to grab his history book, “What is it?”

“It’s about that night, you know, when we… when I-“

“Yeah I know. But we already talked about that.” Leo said quickly not wanting to remember anything from that night, “I already forgave you remember?”

“I know that but, I’ve been feeling a little weird since that happened.” Leo tensed as Caleb continued, “And I know Chase knew more about magic than any of us and Pogue says that you said Chase always told you everything.”

“He did.” Leo answered softly and Caleb gave a nod before he spoke, “I’ve been getting stronger lately and I know it has nothing to do with my ascension. I already reached my body’s physical limit but sometimes I can draw more energy without it affecting my life force. It feels like it did that night after I left. It’s like I’m still drawing from you somehow.”

Leo sighed and shut his eyes for a moment as the other teen finished, “I’m still bound to you aren’t I?”

The teen shut his eyes as he spoke, “Yes.”

“And I’ve been taking from you.”

“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to risk you getting attached once you knew.” Leo said as he leaned down to snatch up his back pack and put his things inside, “You never take that much to begin with, so I figured you wouldn’t notice once the bond closed.”

“You can feel it?” Caleb asked in surprise with his eyebrows raised and a tint of awe in his voice that Leo dutifully ignored, “Yes.”

“Every time?”

“Every time.”

“What about the dreams?”

Leo’s eyes widened, “What dreams?”

Caleb just sat still watching the teen in silence for what felt like eternity and Leo tried not to squirm under that dark brown gaze when Caleb finally spoke, “I dream about that night sometimes, but it’s different from how it was then.”

“Different how?”

“In the dreams you’re not crying for one thing.” Caleb said softly as he looked down at the floor and raked a hand through his damp hair, pushing the inky strands back, “You’re not in pain and there isn’t any blood.” Leo looked away to try and distract himself from remembering everything that Caleb described by putting the rest of his things in his bag and closing it.

“You were willing and for however long that I’m there I don’t feel guilty about wanting to do it again.” Leo’s head snapped up and he stared at Caleb with wide eyes, “What?”

“I know it’s messed up, but I can’t stop thinking about it.” Caleb got up from his seat and came closer causing Leo to instinctively step back as the other teen approached him, “I want to do it again.”

“Caleb-“

“There’s this voice in my head screaming for me to do it again, before it’s too late and I don’t know what that means.”

“Caleb stop-“ Leo said as he stumbled back into the chair where Sarah was sitting on when Caleb trapped the shorter teen between him and the table with his hands on either side of him as he spoke, “It physically hurts to wake up and realize that it was just a dream. I want the pain to stop.”

Caleb was too close. Leo froze as the memories suddenly rushed back to him. Caleb smelled like chlorine a smell that seemed to linger on him the night that Chase disappeared and Leo swears he could still smell on his skin since Chase used to swim too. But he tried to shrug it off as just coming from Reid, because at this point Reid is his only safe thought. But now Caleb is too close and he smells like chlorine and whatever shampoo he used that smelled like forest and pine. Leo swallowed hard somehow not able to just look away from those too dark eyes to try and find a way out when Caleb leaned in even closer and-

“Hey Sarah Leo, are you guys up here?”

Kate.

The sound of the girl’s voice helped snap the teen out of whatever trance he was in and he quickly raised his arms to push Caleb away but the other wouldn’t budge. Leo started to panic.

“Caleb-“

“I can’t stop myself.” Caleb whispered against Leo’s ear and the teen moved quickly to slip out from underneath his arm and grab his bag before making a beeline for the stairs where he almost literally ran into Kate.

“Whoa, slow down shorty.” Kate teased with a smile as she grabbed his arm to bring him to a stop, “I was just looking for you and-“

“I have to go.” Leo said shortly as he shrugged out of her hold and dashed down the stairs earning a frown from the raven haired girl when she turned back towards the shelves where Leo and Sarah usually studied. Kate jumped in surprise when a tiny black spider landed on her shoulder when she walked by one of the shelves and quickly brushed it off when she suddenly heard a scream and her head snapped up in shock.

“Sarah?!”

Leo made it all the way across the parking lot before he collapsed on the ground next to Reid’s car. Huffing out panting breaths as he tried to get his heart under control. The teen dumped his bag down on the ground beside him as he leaned back against the front wheel of the jeep, trying not to think about what just happened because then he’d have to consider the possibility of what almost could have happened and Leo just couldn’t even stand the thought.

His stomach gave a vicious turn and the teen had to fight hard in order to focus on his breathing.

_“I can’t stop myself.”_

God, it’s like Chase all over again and briefly as Leo’s eyes started to sting wondered when it would all finally stop. The teen pulled up his knees and let his head rest on them while he wrapped his arms around himself only to suddenly unfold and gasp.

It was like a tiny hole, right there in the middle of his chest, cyphering energy from his body to wherever it was summoned in a matter of seconds and when it wasn’t used no energy would escape but Leo could still feel the hole and he could always feel the person on the other side. But just then Leo gasped because he felt it finally close.

The connection binding him to another was finally severed due to the lack of intimate contact needed to maintain it.

He couldn’t feel Caleb anymore.

The teen let out a sigh of relief as he let his head fall back against the car behind him and his legs fall flat against the asphalt with a laugh since it felt like an enormous weight was suddenly lifted from his chest and he could finally breathe.

“It’s over.”

“Leo?”

Leo looked up to find Reid walking towards him with his back pack and gym bag slung over his shoulder and the blonde jogged the rest of the way until he just dropped his bags and went down to crouch in front of the teen.

“What’s wrong?”

 Leo just smiled as he quickly leaned up to press a kiss on Reid’s lips, wrapping his arms around the blonde and earning a grunt of surprise before he responded until the teen finally pulled back.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

“I can’t feel him anymore.”

Leo said with a smile and Reid’s eyes widened for a brief moment before he smiled as well, “It closed?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” The blonde said as he leaned in to give Leo another kiss. “I hate sharing.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took longer than Reid would have liked before they got back home.  They had to stop by the pizza place first because neither one of them felt like cooking or even attempting to cook and Reid was in a good enough mood to not even bother with the left overs in the fridge.

The pizza however was tossed onto the kitchen table and left forgotten once they actually got home in favor of other more important things.

Leo gasped and his hands twisted in the sheets beneath him on the bed while Reid nipped and kissed all along his neck and chest trying to distract the teen from the two fingers he had thrusting in and out of his entrance.

“Reid.” Leo moaned when his sweet spot was hit and the blonde whispered hoarsely against his ear, “You know, you make this harder every time.”

They’ve done a lot of stuff.

They’ve hugged, kissed, made out. Leo’s given Reid a blow job in his car while he was driving and Reid’s fingered Leo in the pool in the back yard late at night when his parents away. But they never went all the way because Reid didn’t want to bind Leo to anyone else and Leo just didn’t want to risk turning Reid into a monster like Chase.

So it was unbelievably frustrating when things between them reached unbearable intensities only to have to stop before anything too serious could happen. Which is why when the hand Leo didn’t have tangled up in the sheets reached down to stroke his cock and the blonde let out a hiss of pleasure neither teen was as annoyed as they should have been when Reid’s phone suddenly went off on the bed side table and both teens paused falling down on the bed despite the lust that thrummed strong in their veins and had their bodies wound up tight.

“This is so unfair.” Reid let out a groan as he moved to reach over to the table to grab his phone and quickly answered it, despite his panting breaths while Leo just laughed.

“Hello?” the blonde answered trying to ignore how Leo was now on his neck kissing him just like Reid was doing a few moments before so he could focus on the person on the other side if the line. “Pogue, what’s up?... Yeah I’m a little busy why? Caleb?”

At that Leo paused and fell back in the bed while Reid pushed himself up on his arms.

He didn’t tell Reid about what happened with Caleb at the library because there wasn’t any need.

The channel closed, he shouldn’t feel a link to Leo anymore, so everything should be fine.

“No I haven’t seen him since practice, maybe he’s with Sarah… what?” Reid frowned before letting out a heavy sigh as he moved to sit up a little more, “Alright, I’ll be right over.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Kate said something weird happened at the library after you left and now Caleb and Sarah are missing.” Reid said as he leaned back so he was sitting on his knees on the bed and Leo moved up so he was sitting up as well, “Did you see anything?”

“No.” The teen answered truthfully because as far as he knows Sarah was fine when he left and Caleb-

Is fine too, Leo’s sure he is. Besides what could have possibly happened in the short window of time that he was talking to Kate before he left anyway?

“I’ll just go over and see what’s going on.” Reid said as he leaned forward to press a kiss on Leo’s forehead and the teen suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over him. “I’ll be back as soon as I can-“

“Something did happen before I left though, between me and Caleb.” Leo suddenly blurted out and Reid froze, “What happened?”

“I don’t know. He said he knew that I was still bonded to him. He asked me if I could feel it and then he said that he was having dreams about what happened the night he beat Chase.”

“Did he touch you?”

“He got close, but I got out soon as I could. He just seemed unstable.” Leo finally breathed out and Reid raked a hand through his hair, “O.K we’ll figure it out. But stay here. He’s nothing like Chase, but I don’t want you nearby when we find him. Just to be safe.”

“O.K.” Leo answered with a nod and Reid quickly moved forward to press another kiss on the teen’s lips, “Don’t ever keep things from me again.”

Leo rolled his eyes, “Yes, sir.”

Reid just smirked as he got up from the bed and got dressed before heading out the door while Leo just snatched one of his t-shirts off the ground and headed for the bathroom. His hard on faded sometime during his confession to Reid so all he wanted to do at that point was pee and get something to eat, maybe watch some TV till Reid got back.

It’s important for Reid to take the lead, for him to drive so to speak because of the lack of control he has in every other aspect of his life. He has his friends and school and his mother. But his mother stopped caring a long time ago after his father got reckless and passed away, school was school and as for his friends Reid loves them but he’s always been painfully aware of the fact that he wasn’t quite as strong as Caleb when it came to magic. The very thing that joined them as friends in the first place, always taking second place tended to hurt. Reid needed control, to have something that was his own to take care of and just draw all of his anxious energy and in the aftermath of what happened with Chase, with Leo being so dependent on him and having nothing else, he was willing to shift that need over to someone else. Someone that actually cared and wasn’t just trying to use him.

Sometimes he it makes him feel insecure, being so dependent on the blonde other times Leo isn’t really sure what he’d do without him. On the one hand, Reid shouldn’t have to be stuck taking care of him especially when he’s still such a train wreck on the other Leo doesn’t want to go. I mean where would he go if he could leave? Back to Mission Creek, we’ve already established that Leo just can’t go back there. With Big D and his mom and Adam, Bree and Chase gone Leo would have no idea what to do.

Chase took everything away from him, he doesn’t have anything left. Except for Reid and Reid makes him happy so for however long Reid will have him, Leo doesn’t mind being a little dependent.

After using the toilet Leo washed his hands and paused to look at his reflection in the mirror.

He’s a little taller than he used to be since Mission Creek, maybe just about an inch taller than Chase was when they first met. The teen gave a snort at the thought of Adam’s complaints at his new height only for his expression to fall when he thought about Chase. His brother Chase, the last one he saw die before he was taken away from his home.

Leo sighed as he looked down to finish with his hands before closing the faucet and looked back up at the mirror only to gasp when he felt a hole being torn open right there in the center of his chest. The teen braced his hands on the sigh and hissed in pain when he realized that someone was trying to open another channel to him and he frowned in confusion only for his breathing to stop completely when he saw dozens of tiny little black spiders suddenly crawl out of nowhere to cover every inch of the mirror above the sink.

“No…”

Leo’s heart jumped right into his throat when two arms suddenly wove themselves around his waist from behind and a voice whispered.

“You know, Reid and I both have one thing in common.” Leo didn’t dare look back. He knew whose voice it was. He knew the magical presence of the man pressed against his back he just couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. “I don’t like to share either.”

The spiders on the mirror suddenly parted allowing enough of the mirror finish to be visible for Leo to see the face of the man behind him in its reflection.

“Chase.”

He looked older.

He’d aged at least fifteen years in the past five months. His hair was longer and he had a five o’clock shadow on his face that made him seem even more mature. He looked like he was in his early forties when Leo knew he was eighteen.

“I missed you.” Chase said pressing a kiss against Leo’s throat and the teen felt a shiver run down his spine as he spoke, “H-How…”

“It was harder than I thought it would be. First I had to make it look like I was dead, I cast a seal on my connection to you so you wouldn’t feel me anymore since you obviously can’t be trusted. Then I had to wait until the channel closed you opened with Caleb, when you betrayed me.” Chase hissed out venomously against Leo’s ear as one of his hands wrapped around Leo’s neck and harshly forced the teen to lean his head back against his shoulder, “Then I needed to figure out a way to get rid of Caleb for a while and keep him busy.” Chase said as he pulled Leo even closer to his chest and nipped at the teen’s jaw, “He was getting a little too close to you at the library today so I borrowed his girlfriend and took her far far away.”

“Where is she?”

“I sent her to another town ten hours from here and then I sent golden boy instructions on exactly where he could find the little princess. Unfortunately teleportation spells require a lot more effort than I’d anticipated which explains why I look like this. But now that I have you back, we’ll be able to fix that up, won’t we babe.”

Leo’s eyes went wide and he started to struggle almost as if his brain only just realized the kind of danger he was in only for Chase’s hand to tighten around his throat.

“Uh uh uh, this is no time to start getting feisty sweetheart.” Chase growled out as he kept a tight hold on the teen and Leo watched as the spiders on the mirror all scattered and ice blue eyes went pitch black in the reflection. His shirt started tearing down the middle, slowly ripping apart. “You’re mine remember? Screwing around with the runt for a couple of months doesn’t change a thing.”

“Chase please don’t.” Leo pleaded when his shirt was torn completely open and Chase let out a soft coo as he leaned down to kiss the teen’s cheek, “Aw, but Leo I have to. You’ve forgotten your place. I need to remind you.”

Before he could react, Leo was shoved forward and forced onto the sink, hands wrapping around the bowl when an invisible force binding them together and keeping them there. Leo’s eyes started to sting and a hard lump grew in his throat when he felt Chase’s hands run all along his sides as the older teen leaned onto his back to whisper that familiar incantation into his ear and a shot of lighting shot down Leo’s spine.

~ END FLASH BACK ~

And now they’re here.

Caleb is off looking for Sarah, Pogue and Tyler got knocked out cold moments after they went to Reid’s place since Reid decided to check on Leo before they went looking for Caleb and Reid was suspended in the air screaming in pain as Chase slowly tortured him.

He’s going to rip Reid apart. Leo knew that.

The teen let out a broken sob as his throat ached and his eyes continued to run with tears.

“Chase, please stop!”

Chase just laughed, “Why? He’s the one that wanted to play hero isn’t he? We’ll sometimes heroes don’t win.”

Reid screamed again and this time Leo could hear what sounded like bones crack as Chase bent his already injured arm back the wrong way and Leo felt his heart break when Reid somehow managed to speak.

“Leo-Leo it’ll be O.K, just-ARGH!” Leo let out a new set of sobs when he heard another bone break. “Cl-close your eyes. It’ll be O.K just close your eyes.”

“Isn’t that sweet?” Chase sneered while his eyes narrowed down at the blonde before briefly looking down at the form of the broken boy in his arm and he let out a sigh, “I think it’s time to end this.”

Leo looked up at Chase’s words and his heart clenched.

There’s only one way to end this, to stop all the pain once and for all.

“Reid! I’m sorry for everything…” the teen called out only for his voice to crack near the end before he took a deep breath and Chase frowned when the boy tensed and he saw Leo’s eyes suddenly start to turn black.

“What-“

“Reid Garwin, I will you my power.”

Chase’s eyes went wide and he immediately let Leo go as he screamed, “NO!”

A symbol suddenly appeared on the side of Leo’s neck and on Chase’s as well, it was an eye with a line running right through it. The very next moment the sky was suddenly covered in clouds and thunder roared before lighting struck in one massive bolt of burning white as it hit both Leo and Chase before another lightning bolt connected Reid to the two. Loud harsh cracks ripped through the air joined by three screams of pain as the entire area was bathed in bright light. Pogue started to come to along with Tyler and both stared with wide eyes at the display around them.

“What the hell?!” Tyler cursed as he scrambled back away from the bright lighting while Pogue raised his arm to try and squint through the rays only to suddenly gasp.

“Reid?”

The sounds of the screams finally died out and the bright flashing stopped. Reid’s body dropped to the ground while the fire on the house burning behind them continued to rage on as the thunder gave one more roar before the clouds all disappeared

Pogue immediately moved over to Reid’s body to find the blonde completely uninjured and breathing and the brunette almost let out a sigh of relief when Tyler caught his attention.

“Pogue.”

“What-… Oh God.”

Right then Reid started to stir, letting out a groan of pain as he forced his eyes open and turned over onto his side. “Ow fuck…”

“Reid? Are you O.K?” Pogue asked as the blonde slowly tried to sit up and he helped him. Reid just kept his hand pressed to his forehead as he clutched it in pain, “What happened?”

“We should get you to a hospital.” Pogue said as he grabbed the blonde’s arm determined to steer him away from the sight just a couple of yards away. But Reid resisted his efforts.

“Hospital? What’re- where are we?” the blonde asked as he briefly looked back and caught sight of the house still burning down and his eyes went wide as they suddenly filled with realization when the memories came back to him.

“Where’s Leo? Did Chase get away? Where are they?” Pogue sighed and Reid frowned when he saw Tyler turn away from where he stood a couple of yards away next to-

“What-no…”

“Reid-” Pogue said as he tried to keep the blonde seated only for Reid to shove him away as he got up. Stumbling a bit as he tried to get his legs steady when he collapsed beside the figure on the ground.

It looked like a marble sculpture of a boy, he was on his knees with his arms down at his sides and his head faced up towards the sky. A few feet away there was a sculpture of another man, on his back with his arms stretched out and his face turned towards the sky as well.

“Leo?” Reid breathed out as his eyes started to sting and his throat clenched he raised his hands to touch the statue only to hesitate before letting his fingers graze the cold dark marble stone going down the figure’s arms onto his hands and the blonde felt his heart crack. Shutting his eyes as he fell forward with his hands still clutching Leo’s cold unmoving ones when the tears felt and he let out a heart retching sob.

Pogue looked away running a hand through his hair while Tyler went to sit down beside him while the house continued to burn. They could hear sirens in the distance as they echoed loudly along the highway but they didn’t move or say a word since the sobs coming from the teen before them made the sirens sound irrelevant in comparison.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Sad ending but I thought it was fitting. Although there is an alternate ending, with Douglas and Marcus involved that takes place after this last bit. But I cut it because I felt like it took away the feel that I was going for. 
> 
> Did you guys notice the spiders?
> 
> Please review


End file.
